Uncle Uber's Sammich Shop

We went to this Asian Night Market Festival event at the beginning of October. It was in some office building in downtown Dallas. If you know which event I'm talking about, you'd probably agree it was pretty much an epic fail. I didn't have high expectations for it, but it was so bad that we only stuck around for 20 minutes, despite paying for the admission. Booo... :( Luckily, we had a back up plan for dinner if this were to happen. My friends and I left, and contacted other friends that were on their way to the event to go elsewhere. Don't waste your money! haha. We all went to Uncle Uber's in Deep Ellum instead. We KNOW we'll get some good food there.

Uncle Uber's Sammich Shop
2713 Commerce St.
Dallas, TX 75226
(214) 653-8237
www.uncleubers.com
Price: $-$$

It took awhile for us to find parking... there was some concert going on that night so it seemed more packed than usual. Finally we were in line at Uncle Uber's. As my friends were trickling in... the power goes out. Not just the restaurant, but basically the whole neighborhood. Geez. Is this the universe telling us we're doomed for food today?!? The rest of my friends JUST parked (and paid parking too) so we decided to stick around the area for awhile to see if the power comes back. We decided to walk around Deep Ellum to see if other areas weren't affected and other food options. We walked around for 15 minutes or so... seemed way longer, but the power came back!! We bee-lined to Uncle Uber's and found the line was shorter. Woohoo!

I got the Blackened Fish (spicy filet, homemade slaw, pickles, on a toasted bun) $6.99~ 

I wanted to try something new this time. The burger sounded amazing, but I wanted something a little lighter. "A little". haha. The sandwich was pretty hefty with 2 giant pieces of blackened fish. Loaded with slaw, and I asked them to add some lettuce. The fish was cooked perfectly. It had so much flavor. It was a pretty messy sandwich though. Juices all over the place. hehe. Loved it!!

My fiance got The Cuban (slow roasted pork, Boar's Head ham, swiss cheese, pickles, Uber sauce; in a hot pressed baguette) $7.99~ He's been craving this forever! We both think Uncle Uber's has one of the best Cubans in Dallas. Granted... I haven't had many in Dallas, haha, but this is legit.

Hand-Cut Fries $1.99~ Some other friends got fries. I loooooove their fries. You can tell it's freshly cut. And fried to perfection. I think I ate at least half of my friend's fries. Ahahaha... well if she's not gonna finish it, why not?! :P

Totally love this place. I'm so glad we stuck around for the power to come back. After a disappointing day like this, the food totally made up for it. Oh yea, the lady that brought the food out to the tables was hilarious!! The whole dining room was having a good time with her. :) We'll be back for sure!!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Ten50 BBQ

Had a serious craving for BBQ a few weeks ago so my friends and I decided to go check out Ten50 BBQ in Richardson. It's right by my work so I see it all the time, but none of us have ever been. I've actually heard that it's hit or miss, most people saying it's overpriced and not that great. But it was a good middle point for everyone, so why not check it out!

Ten50 BBQ
1050 N. Central Expressway
Richardson, TX, 75080
(972) 234-1050
www.ten50bbq.com
Price: $$

The place is pretty huge. To get into the building, you have to walk through their patio seating area which is almost a restaurant on its own! Pretty cool too. Mist fans since it was still quite warm, a live band playing and outdoor bars set up. Once we walked in, we were a little confused where to order. Apparently, you have to go outside and around the corner, where you'll see the meat stations.

The lines were not so bad, which is good cuz I was starving! Initially we planned on getting several different types of meat and just sharing family style. But then we realized it's more economical to order the 2 or 3 meat combo platter individually. I think the 2 meat, 2 sides was around $12.99~ I was thinking seriously on which meats to order that I didn't take a picture of the menu. haha. So we all ended up getting the 2 meat platter.

I got the Brisket - USDA Prime (fatty) and the St. Louis Pork Ribs. Among the group, we also got to try the Sausage (mild), Chicken, and Pulled Pork.

First, the brisket... Boy was it fatty! A tad much for me, but also made it super juicy. The meat was really tender and I loved the char. My friends' briskets were slightly less fatty than mine. I trimmed off some of the fat and it was sooo good. Definitely hit the spot.

St. Louis Pork Ribs. I always love ribs and usually prefer the ones with dry rub like this. It was ok. It was tender, but I've definitely had better.

Sausage. They didn't have the jalapeno cheese available. This was good. Pretty standard.

Chicken. Or maybe it was turkey... I have no idea. hahaha. :P It was fine. I don't come to a BBQ joint to eat chicken. haha. 

Pulled Pork. Pretty good. Not dry like pulled pork can be sometimes. I'd say it's my 2nd favorite after the brisket.

With each of our platters we also got to choose 2 sides each.
Coleslaw. I enjoyed this. Not made with mayonnaise and wasn't so rich.

Potato Salad. I always love potato salad. This was pretty dang good. 

4 Cheese Mac n' Cheese. Not too bad. Pretty standard, so it's good. I loved the breadcrumbs on top.

Roll. The rolls are free. I really wish I had gotten more than one because it was awesome. Perfectly warm and fluffy on the inside. Paired so well with everything. I made my own stuffed roll. haha. With a bit of everything in one bite!

They also had some free condiments for you, like butter, onions, jalapenos, and pickles. The pickles also had a kick to them. Nice compliment to the BBQ.

And... we didn't know beforehand, but it was Ten50's 1 year anniversary. Happy Birthday, Ten50!! So they were giving out free Banana Puddings to all the guests. It was really good!!! Lots of banana, light, and yummy. :) Yay to free food.

Totally satisfied my craving. Not the best BBQ I've had in Dallas, but it wasn't bad either. I would go back again if I'm in the area. :) Oh.. and seems like they have a pretty good bar? Craft beers, and their mixed drinks were pretty cheap.

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Gang Jung Chicken Cafe

Last Friday I had a hair appointment in the H-Mart area in Carrollton. I rarely venture over there anymore so I got some of my friends to meet up for dinner in that area. There are so many new places to try!

I wanted to go check out Gang Jung Chicken Cafe. They specialized in Korean fried chicken, which I love!! I never got to try BonChon in Dallas, although I was told it wasn't good anyways. Now, I've had BonChon in Korea and it was sooooo good.

Gang Jung Chicken Cafe
2680 Old Denton Rd # 156
Carrollton, Texas 75007
(972) 306-3100
Price: $-$$

This place is pretty new. Opened in the fall of 2013. It's located in the same corner as Spa Castle. It's a cute place. Not very big. Wooden tables and benches, a very typical Korean look. You order at the counter and pick up the order at the counter.

5 of us got there around the same time so we went up to order. The guys behind the counter were very nice and tried to explain the menu to us. There were 2 sides to the menu: Gang Jung and Fried Chicken. From what I could understand, Gang Jung is still fried but the sauce on the chicken is more sweet and comes with rice cakes. Spicy Gang Jung is spicier than Crazy Spicy Chicken which confused us. Because if you call something craaazy spicy, I expect it to be hella spicy. haha. I found the menu a bit confusing but the guys were patient and gave us recommendations (despite a little lacking in English). They also let us taste the different spicy sauces. They said we should get 4 mediums to share between the 5 of us. And that comes with 4 sides.

Here are the sizes and prices:
Small (Chicken breast or wings; with 1 side) $8.99~
Medium (Chicken breast or wings; with 1 side) $13.99~
Large (Chicken breast or wings or whole chicken; with 1 side) $17.99~

So we took their recommendation and got a mix of spicy and non-spicy flavors.

Spicy Gang Jung (garlic, red chili, soy sauce, capsaicin, hot powder). We chose Chicken Breast for this. 

This is supposedly the spiciest of them all. It was just spicy enough for me, but I eat pretty spicy in general. My friends that don't eat spicy couldn't handle it. I didn't think it was insanely spicy though. The chicken breast was amazingly juicy and tender. The chicken pieces were quite large. The batter was a little thick, but was crispy and partly softened by the sauce. I liked the batter but some friends didn't care for it. This also included fried rice cakes which was awesome! I loved the added texture after it's fried. The sauce flavor did have a certain spice/flavor that was interesting. The whole night I was trying to decide if I liked it.

Crazy Spicy Chicken (corn syrup, soybean sauce, garlic, hot sauce, capsaicin, hot powder). We got these in Wings. 

This was my favorite. It was also spicy and sweet like the Spicy Gang Jung, but it didn't have that extra spice. The wings were pretty large and juicy. I will definitely get this again. With the different sizes, the number of chicken breast pieces and wings are different. You get fewer wings to chicken breast per order.

Soy Garlic Chicken (soybean sauce, soy sauce, potato starch, onion, garlic, garlic powder, soybean oil). We got these in Wings. 

One of my friends wanted sweet, so they recommended this. This was my second favorite. It was definitely sweet, but worked very well with the garlic. Again, the wings were nicely fried and very juicy.

Green Onion Chicken (deep fried chicken with green onion in creamy green onion sauce; soybean sauce, onion, garlic, mustard, garlic powder, caramel syrup). They said this is their best seller and is very good with Chicken Breast. So we took their suggestion. 

The bottom is basically regular fried chicken and topped with a ton of shredded green onions. Probably my least favorite out of the bunch. The chicken was fried well and very moist but it was lacking in flavor, especially when it's next to all these awesomely sauced other flavors. The sauce comes on the side. It's a little sweet, slightly creamy and has a mustard-y, horseradish-y flavor. The sauce is much needed for this and was able to make it more unique. I'd skip this next time. I wonder why it's their best seller?

French Fries $2.50~ We also got an order of fries. They made some extra so they gave us another order for free! How nice! :) The fries were good. Paired well with the chicken.

Sides:
Daikon Radish. Pretty standard. The radish is a little sweet, a little tangy and helps cut the spiciness and greasiness from fried chicken. It's quite refreshing.
Corn Salad. It was like coleslaw with corn in it. I liked it with the chicken. It was good to have some veggies with all this meat!
Rice. Steamed rice. Pretty standard. haha.

So while we were deciding what to order, another friend showed up and ordered before we even noticed. :P He got a medium Parmesan Chicken (deep fried chicken covered with parmesan powder). He chose Wings. 

We all shared. These were quite popular at the table. I feel like it was the first to disappear. I thought it was ok. I prefer the Korean sauces and stuck to the other ones more.

OMG. We killed it all. There was nothing left. I just kept eating, and eating, and eating. Anything fried is always so addicting. It was a lot of food too... I'd actually say we'd be ok with 4 mediums among the 6 of us... I really enjoyed our meal though. I hope to go again soon. :) I'm so happy that we have good Korean fried chicken in Dallas again. Just a warning... if you don't like sweet and savory, this is not the place for you.

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Lockhart Smokehouse in Plano

Last Saturday we were heading to Plano and I suddenly remembered that we still haven't tried the new Lockhart BBQ! I totally took the opportunity and suggested that we go there for lunch. Excited!!

Lockhart Smokehouse
1026 East 15th Street
Plano, TX 75074
(972) 516-8900
http://www.lockhartsmokehouse.com/
Price: $$

Walking in, I saw that there was no line!! No line!! That's freaking awesome. All I keep hearing was how long they still had to wait when they went to Lockhart. Apparently we came on the best day! Later after we sat down at the bar to eat, the bartender was telling us that they were swamped on July 4th with people coming in and ordering tons of meat for their "cookouts". And so the day after, it was much calmer, but still had a steady stream of people. We hit the jackpot on this one.

We waited about 5 minutes to order. That gave us time to look over their menu which was written on a chalkboard on the wall. As we got up to the register, they ran out of beans. Good thing we weren't going to order any!

We got a half pound of Beef Brisket (fatty) $7.99~ per 1/2 pound. 

 

I asked if they had any more burnt ends but they didn't. But it's ok. The char on the brisket was fantastic enough. So much flavor. The brisket was just fatty enough to be juicy but not too fatty. I put some on bread with some coleslaw and made a pretty epic sandwich. I've heard that their brisket can be dry but we certainly got a good batch. :)

Pork Spare Ribs $6.50~ per 1/2 pound. 

We got a half pound, and it was 2 ribs. TWO. Haha, they were a good size. I was so into the brisket sandwich that I only ate 1/4 of the ribs. We took the other one to go. The ribs weren't super tender but still very good. It did have a lot of flavor though. I still liked the brisket better, which is usually my favorite meat at a BBQ joint.

Lockhart Slaw (small) $2.50~ 

They also had a blue cheese slaw, but neither one of us are that big of fans of blue cheese. This was yummy. And SPICY! the heat starts slow and builds up as you eat more and more. My fiancee can't really eat spicy so it was all on me!! There were little chunks of brisket in there too. And it wasn't overly dressed and soggy. Yum.

Potato Salad (small) $2.50~ 

The potato salad was good too. Also had chunks of brisket in there. The potatoes had a good texture. And it was creamy but not overly dressed either.

The food was great, we were having a lovely lunch, but the best thing of all was their special dessert of the day. Whiskey S'mores Bread Pudding. 

We saw it on the board and had to get it. Sounded too amazing to pass up. As the girl at the register was scooping it into a container, I could already smell the chocolate. It was hot and gooey and chocolatey. So. Freaking. Good. We almost went back and got some to go but fought our temptations. haha. It was an amazing bread pudding. Probably in my top 3 of bread puddings ever. I can't say I tasted any of the whiskey but it didn't matter. haha.

We both thought the hype was legit. The food was great. And I was really impressed with the service. We sat at the bar but didn't order any drinks. The bartender was still awesome. Laid out paper towels for us, filled our water cups when it got low, and chatted with us. Very friendly and attentive. We really came on the perfect day. I bet when they get really swamped, they probably don't have the same amount of time to spend on each customer.

So 1 new BBQ place down, I dunno how many more to go. I really want to go to Pecan Lodge, everyone tells me it's even better. Some day... In the mean time, I will definitely return to Lockhart.

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~